U.K. Coronavirus Variant Found In RI: How To Stay Safe

PROVIDENCE, RI — A new, potentially more dangerous variant of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Rhode Island. On Tuesday, the Department of Health announced that the United Kingdom variant was found in three COVID-19 patients.

"We knew the variant would come ... quite frankly, it's not surprising," said Dr. James McDonald, the Chief Administration Officer at the Department of Health. "We've been looking for it, we found what we were looking for."

The B.1.1.7 variant, which was first found in the U.K., was confirmed in the three patients' samples Monday night. One person is in their 60s, one in their 50s and one in their 20s. Two people were from Newport County, and one from Providence County.

The samples were sequenced as part of the department's COVID-19 genomic surveillance plan and the cases are still under investigation. The sequencing was done by the Broad Institute, working in collaboration with the Department of Health's State Health Laboratories. Funding for this work is supplied by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, the director of the Department of Health, said previously that it was only a matter of time before new variants were confirmed in the state, and that they were likely already in circulation in the public. To help prevent the spread of these more contagious variants, it's more important than ever to follow social distancing rules and buy more time to get more people vaccinated and get closer to warmer months, she said.

McDonald said the best thing Rhode Islanders can do to protect themselves and others is upgrade their mask.

"A cloth mask by itself is ok, but double-masking [with both a fabric and paper mask] is better, and high-quality masks are best," he said.

The best masks are KN95s, KF95s, paper medical masks or N95s, though fabric masks are acceptable if they are made of tightly-knit fabric and have at least two layers. All masks should be snug-fitting but comfortable, and fully cover the nose, mouth and chin.

At this point, McDonald said that he does not believe the variant is widespread in the state, which is evidenced by the improving data trends over the past weeks.

This particular variant has been found in 40 other states so far, McDonald said, and the current treatments and vaccines available are effective against it.

"It's new to us, but it's not new to the United States," McDonald explained.

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